During the 2023 Oscar luncheon hosted by the Academy, Steven Spielberg complimented Tom Cruise and thanked him for saving theatrical distribution. However, not everyone who has worked with Cruise always has good things to say about the star. The crew members who worked on Mission: Impossible 7 and were on the receiving end of the actor’s tirade during the pandemic probably fall into the latter list. However, the actor did explain his actions later on.
Tom Cruise Berated Mission: Impossible 7 Crew Members
Tom Cruise behind the scenes of Mission Impossible 7
When Mission: Impossible 7 was filming in December 2020 in England, the pandemic was raging in Europe. The Sun newspaper then released a leaked audio recording of Tom Cruise shouting and cursing out two crew members of the film. All of this for reportedly breaking the COVID-19 safety protocols by standing way too close to each other in front of the computer screen. Here is what the British site reported Cruise as saying :
“If I see you do it again you’re f****g gone. And if anyone on this crew does it, that’s it. We are the gold standard. They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we’re doing. I’m on the phone with every (expletive) studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you (expletive). I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”
George Clooney
That’s not all, in the leaked audio, Cruise can also be heard saying that he won’t shut down production on Mission: Impossible 7 in any way. He said:
“I am beyond your apologies. We are not shutting this f— movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you’re f— gone. And so are you. So you’re gonna cost him his job. If I see it on the set, you’re gone and you’re gone. That’s it. Am I clear? Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason, and if you can’t be reasonable, and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired. That’s it.”
Back then, Cruise received a lot of backlash for his way of speaking to crew members. Even George Clooney said that even though he agreed with his fellow actor’s emotions, Cruise should have handled the situation differently since he is the boss on the set. However, the Top Gun star wasn’t apologetic and instead stood by his words.
Tom Cruise Didn’t Apologize For Speaking Rudely To His Crew
Tom Cruise
In an interview with Empire magazine, Tom Cruise said that he didn’t regret his outburst because it was a very emotional moment for him as Mission: Impossible 7 had already been delayed multiple times due to COVID. He said:
“I said what I said. There was a lot at stake at that point. All those emotions were going through my mind. I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry and for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. And here we are, continuing to film.”
Many fans of Cruise as well as fellow industry people understood the reason behind the actor’s outburst. COVID almost crippled Hollywood as multiple films were sent straight to streaming without even a theatrical release. However, Top Gun: Maverick and then Avatar 2 in 2022 brought back the theatrical experience and grossed upwards of $1.5 billion and $2.3 billion respectively. As for Mission: Impossible 7, the movie has been delayed three times already. However, it is sure to be released on its fixed date this year.
